I’m always looking for opportunities to engage in science education and outreach opportunities. I’m very comfortable writing blog posts, speaking in front of groups, even doing podcast interviews. But my television experience is very limited. I had one huge flurry of contacts in 2022 from newspapers and TV stations with the incorrect post on social media that my campus seismometer recorded a home run hit at a World Series game in Philadelphia (see Home runs at the World Series causing earthquakes? A lesson in information literacy with the story that aired embedded below). And this has pretty much been the extent of my engagement with TV stations.

Fast-forward to the first half of 2024, and no one could be more surprised than me that I’ve already had two television engagements! Both are described below – one where a station came to campus to film an interview with me, and a second where I went to the station and was live on TV (for the very first time!). There are still some nerves involved, but I’m so thankful for these opportunities and look forward to additional ones in the future.

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New Jersey earthquake measured on Penn State Brandywine’s seismometer

I was sitting at home in my dining room, in a Zoom meeting recording someone for the StoryCorps Archive I manage related to scientific ocean drilling. I was a little annoyed by the construction noises happening in the street and hoping these sounds would not get picked up by my microphone. Then, in the middle of our recorded conversation, I heard a loud rumbling, and my dining room started shaking. I knew right away this was no longer construction activity I was hearing and feeling. My colleague was in Zoom was in Texas, and since we were recording, I just kept the conversation moving along. But it was so hard to focus on Zoom when emails and text messages started coming in, asking me if an earthquake just happened. And yes, it was!

Later that day, I met with John Paul from 6 ABC Action News on campus. He and I met back in 2022 when he came to campus to interview me about the false report on the World Series earthquake. It was great to connect with him again and discuss another earthquake – but this one, we really did capture on our campus seismometer!

Here’s the article about the story, and the video clip myself and my campus are featured in.

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Why is Jersey Shore water so crystal clear lately?

On Friday, June 21, I received a text message from the Fox 29 television station in Philadelphia. The text stated that they were “reaching out from Good Day Philadelphia because we’d love to get an expert on the show Monday morning to explain the science behind why the Jersey Shore is looking so tropical blue this summer.” I felt all the emotions – confused, excited, nervous – all from a text message! In one hour, I was on the phone for a pre-interview to provide background information for the studio to write up questions for those I would join at the desk. Phytoplankton are not my area of speciality, but I know enough about upwelling, nutrients, and ocean currents to report on the issue. I sent ahead of time some images from NOAA that could be included during the broadcast.

I arrived at the station that Monday morning, waiting in the Green Room (which actually doesn’t have anything green in it), and was brought up to the studio to get set with a lapel microphone. Before I knew it, I was on the air. The time went by so quickly, but it was so much fun. I hope you enjoy the video clip! There is also a corresponding article online.